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Re: First car

My Daddy bought me a brand new 68 Mustang. It was a 16 year birthday, high school graduation present . I was thankful. It came with lots of conditions, like seatbelt use. 4 of our kids were given old family cars from us or grandparents. Not sure how I feel about this. It would be hard for a younger person to saveenough to buy a car. Our goal in giving the old cars was for them to see that old it OK. No car payment is a goal. Worked with 2 of them. The others borrowed money for a car later. Babs

Re: First car

There is a definite learning curve to buying a car and you have to start somewhere. I bought my own first car and the same with my kids. In fact, when DH was ready to upgrade his vehicle, our son approached us and said he would pay us $6, 000 cash rather than use it as a trade in. Win-win for both parties.

Re: First car

DH bought his first car for $400 & fixed it up in high school - a 65 Chevy Malibu. His father helped him pay for it - dad paid half. He stil has the car & it still works. His father used that car tot each DH how to work on cars.

My parents did not give me a car. I was allowed the use of a family car, but it was not mine.

We don't consider "a car of your own" part of parenting. Our children were allowed the use of a family car, & learned to share with each other, since no one had exclusive use of a vehicle. They bought their own, after they were in college. All bought lightly used, good vehicles.

Re: First car

I drove one of my parent's cars in high school and didn't have a car my first semester of college.

My first car was a 1988 Chevy Cavilier 5 speed and I split the cost 50/50 with my dad and paid my own insurance. It was titled and insured in both my name and my mom's name so the insurance was cheaper. I drove that through college until it died after my first year of law school. Dad then helped me again buy another car 50/50, a 1992 Geo Prizm and I paid insurance again.

Both cars were under $3000 so I paid $1200 to $1500 for my half. I couldn't have bought a reliable car without dad's help. They were always 8+ years old but dependable. And tiny, I could parallel park in just about anything, LOL.

My husband couldn't fit in the Prizm (he's 6'6" and the prizm is tiny!) and after we were married, my dad sold us my grandpa's 1991 Mercury Grand Marquis. Not a hip, sporty car for a young married couple, LOL, but very dependable. DH drove it to his first teaching job which was 25 miles out of town. His old car would not have been good for commuting so I drove it to school and my part-time job in town. Again, we went 50/50 and we paid $2500 for our half. I was still in law school so I think that's why my dad helped us out.

Since then, we've bought our own cars. But it was a wonderful thing to have help. Since my parents paid for part, I felt it was part their car and took really good care of it. I also felt ownership in the car because I paid for half out my savings account and/or with my 2 or 3 summer jobs.

I know we will help our kids with their first car, too. Nothing new and nothing fancy. Reasonable and reliable.

Re: First car

All of my siblings and my kids bought their own cars. I never considered providing a vehicle as a part of parenting, as a matter of fact, I thought it was just the opposite. I don't think kids have the same sense of pride and accomplishment when a car is given to them that they do when they pay for their own. It's more "theirs" in a way. At least that's how I felt and how my kids felt.

Re: First car

When our boys were baptized as babies my MIL gave them each a large check. My DH purchased Walmart stock with those checks. Our plan was always for that money to be used to purchase their first car. Through the 16 years the stock split and grew and when it came time to purchase a car they each had plenty of funds, in fact quite a bit more than I expected. My oldest opted for a brand new car and used what he had in stock to pay for it and got a part time job and paid off the rest. My youngest decided he didn't want a car payment so he bought a used Jeep outright and even had enough left over for a new stereo system. This worked out very well and my SIL is kicking herself that they didn't do the same thing with her kids and their Baptism checks.

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free to read the great frugal living tips, ideas and discussions
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Feel
free to read the great frugal living tips, ideas and discussions
readers and community members have posted here. But if you'd like to
post something or start a discussion, please click here to go over to our new community site and create an account.

Dollar Stretcher, Inc. does not assume responsibility for advice given. All advice should be weighed against your own abilities and circumstances and applied accordingly. It is up to the reader to determine if advice is safe and suitable for his or her own situation.